Can't You Hear Me Knocking

This article is about the song by The Rolling Stones. For the episode of That '70s Show, see Can't You Hear Me Knocking (episode).

"Can't You Hear Me Knocking"
Song

"Can't You Hear Me Knocking" is a song by English rock band The Rolling Stones from their 1971 album Sticky Fingers. The song is over seven minutes long, and begins with a Keith Richards open-G tuned guitar intro. At two minutes and forty-three seconds, an instrumental break begins, with Rocky Dijon on congas; tenor saxophonist Bobby Keys performs an extended saxophone solo over the guitar work of Richards and Mick Taylor, punctuated by the organ work of Billy Preston. At 4:40 Taylor takes over from Keys and carries the song to its finish with a lengthy guitar solo.

Inspiration

Richards on writing the guitar riff,

"Can't You Hear Me Knocking came out flying - I just found the tuning and the riff and started to swing it and Charlie picked up on it just like that, and we're thinking, hey, this is some groove. So it was smiles all around. For a guitar player it's no big deal to play, the chopping, staccato bursts of chords, very direct and spare."

Recording

On the recording, Richards said in 2002,

"(The jam at the end wasn't inspired by Carlos Santana.) We didn't even know they were still taping. We thought we'd finished. We were just rambling and they kept the tape rolling. I figured we'd just fade it off. It was only when we heard the playback that we realised, Oh, they kept it going. Basically we realised we had two bits of music. There's the song and there's the jam."

Taylor recalled in a 1979 interview,

"Can't You Hear Me Knocking... is one of my favourites... (The jam at the end) just happened by accident; that was never planned. Towards the end of the song I just felt like carrying on playing. Everybody was putting their instruments down, but the tape was still rolling and it sounded good, so everybody quickly picked up their instruments again and carried on playing. It just happened, and it was a one-take thing. A lot of people seem to really like that part."

Taylor continued,

"I used a brown Gibson ES-345 for Dead Flowers and the solo on Can't You Hear Me Knocking."

An early alternate take of the song (with dummy/placeholder lyrics) was released in June 2015 on the Deluxe and Super Deluxe editions of the reissued Sticky Fingers album.

Jagger noted in the Spotify Landmark interview on the album that the key was too high for his voice and that "I [did] lots of vocals, harmonies to sort of hide the fact that I didn't really hit the notes that great in the chorus bits."

Accolades

In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine listed it at #25 on its list of "The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time."

Personnel

• Mick Jagger - vocals
• Keith Richards - rhythm guitar, lead guitar, backing vocals
• Mick Taylor - lead guitar, rhythm guitar
• Bill Wyman - bass guitar
• Charlie Watts - drums
• Bobby Keys - saxophone
• Rocky Dijon - congas
• Nicky Hopkins - piano
• Jimmy Miller - percussion
• Billy Preston - organ

The Rolling Stones live performances

The number was part of the Rolling Stones' concert repertoire during their Licks Tour in 2002–2003 and A Bigger Bang Tour in 2005–2007. In these renditions, Mick Jagger played a harmonica solo after Keys' sax solo, and Ronnie Wood performed the extended guitar solo. A live recording was released on the band's 2003 DVD set Four Flicks and on the 2004 concert album Live Licks. It was also performed live during shows in 2013, with Mick Taylor appearing as a special guest with the band.

In other media

• It is featured in Blow.
• It is featured in its entirety in Martin Scorsese's movie Casino.
• It is featured in Comedian.
• It is featured in The Fighter.
• It is featured in Without a Paddle.
• It is featured in the episode "Exile on Main St." of Californication.
• Rapper Juelz Santana sampled it on his song "Blow" from Back Like Cooked Crack Volume One.
• A shortened cover version of the studio track (without the saxophone solo) is featured in 2006 music video game Guitar Hero II.
• It is featured in Pain & Gain.

Personnel

Sticky Fingers

The Rolling Stones

• Mick Jagger – lead vocals
• Keith Richards – electric guitar, backing vocals
• Mick Taylor – electric guitar, backing vocals
• Charlie Watts – drums
• Bill Wyman – bass guitar

Additional musicians

• Nicky Hopkins - piano
• Jack Nitzsche - piano
• Paul Buckmaster - strings
• Ry Cooder - guitar

• Ian Stewart - piano
• Rocky Dijon – congas
• Bobby Keys – saxophone
• Billy Preston - organ
• Jimmy Miller – percussion

Live Licks

The Rolling Stones

• Mick Jagger – vocals
• Keith Richards – guitar
• Ron Wood – guitar
• Charlie Watts – drums

Additional musicians

• Darryl Jones – bass guitar

External links

• Complete Official Lyrics